There are many drying processes wherein the overall effectiveness of the drying processes must be monitored and then controlled to obtain the most economical production results. Such monitoring and control in the past have been undertaken by skilled personnel manipulating controls based on their direct product observations and/or on their observations of the readings of instruments. Also such monitoring has been undertaken by utilizing equipment such as illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,241,249, wherein the speeds of conveyor-type dryers of wood veneer sheets are controlled, being changed automatically as necessary, at times to reach the maximum production of wood veneers having a suitable dryness. In more recent times, other monitoring and control equipment has been developed. However, the reliance on product observations made directly and/or made via instrumentation during a production period immediately following an extended shut down period of a conveyor loaded with products within a dryer, to again control the speed and/or temperature of a conveyor will cause confusion and production problems, because of the presence of the overdried products leaving the dryer after the shut down of the conveyor. Therefore, especially when automatic speed control apparatus is being relied upon, there should be a way to avoid such reliance, until the products being dried are again traveling through the dryer without being stopped on a shutdown conveyor. This invention serves this need by providing a shutdown triggered hold speed control method and apparatus for use with an automatic speed control apparatus regulating continuous drying process equipment.